Ever thought about owning your local pub?

For many community owned businesses, a community share offering is a great way to raise investment from the very people which the enterprise intends to benefit.

In the current economic climate, with new figures showing as many as 29 pubs being closed down each week, it comes as no surprise that communities are fighting back and rallying together to save the institution which remains at the heart of Britain’s social centre.

As an increasingly popular way to secure the long-term future of community businesses, community shares stand as a sustainable funding system that enables money to be raised from the people who it matters most to.

Crowdfunder.co.uk helps to facilitate community owned assets, with an active network of thousands of people investing in and supporting community enterprises. From shops and piers through to football clubs and farms – the list of sectors is growing all of the time.

One of the perfect examples of community shares forming stronger community bonds, by uniting people with a business that serves a community purpose, is the great British pub. So far, Crowdfunder.co.uk has supported community owned pubs to raise more than £1.6m!

Here are some of the pubs that we have already helped

With a history of pulling pints for over 150 years, The Auctioneers Arms wanted to crowdfund their community share and send out the message that it wasn’t simply about saving a pub, but rather that by coming together they could create a community hub.

To save the village pub from developers looking to partially demolish the building and turn the site into housing, The Spotted Cow wanted to create a community owned asset that would run for the good of the village and provide support to the whole community.

With no doubt one of the best Crowdfunder.co.uk videos we’ve seen on a project, The Gardeners Rest pub invited the local community to invest in preserving this much loved pub, which has become an invaluable space for people to gather and socialise.

After the Cross Inn, Great Bromley was shut down and an impending future of being turned into houses loomed on the horizon, a few locals decided to get together and do something about it. With the unique opportunity to purchase the premises from the property developer, this community share intended to re-open their much loved public house as a community hub.

When communities take ownership of the things that matter most to them, they become stronger – so don’t just follow the crowd, be the crowd.

• Read more about how Crowdfunder can help you with your community share idea and use the form to get in touch today.